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Is old film good ?


colonel

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guys, from your vast experience can you help me here

 

I just resurfaced and dusted off and old body I had lying around

I haven't used the camera for around 15 years :o

 

I found an Ilford 3200 film in it. I finished the roll off (jsut a few pics). Now I am intrigued as to what pictures were originally taken with it.

 

I can't process B&W myself at the moment. It is worth getting it processed or will the emulsion be no good now ?

 

It has been kept in a dry environment at room temperature

 

thanks in advance

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By now the film will have lost speed, the results will be soft but it should be worth processing, do you know anyone ie local camera club who may be able to process for you, you can then scan any results.

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By now the film will have lost speed, the results will be soft but it should be worth processing, do you know anyone ie local camera club who may be able to process for you, you can then scan any results.

 

i don't. I normally send off Ilford to Illford.

but I am in London so will look around.

Its actually a good idea, just to do a contact sheet first.

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Hi

 

With a real fast film the fog level will be high, so in effect the speed will be less, ISO is density above the fog level, or used to be.

There are two anti fog agents you add to developers if you soup your own, they may also slow the emulsion speed a little.

I'd suggest join a local camera club and plead poverty, some one will give you a dev tank, for free.

 

Noel

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No quite the same story here as refrigerated film and exposed recently.

Also, Vivian Maier's work must be at least 15 years old (!) and seems to be processing fine. Perhaps high iso film is more prone to degrading(???)

Pete

 

thanks interesting link

although that film was not yet shot and is E6

 

rgds

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Send it in and see what you get. Tell the processor it's found film and process for minimal grain, maybe they will, probably not.

 

I just tossed a few rolls of frozen two year old 3200 after I got this back.

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I just tossed a few rolls of frozen two year old 3200 after I got this back.

 

I'm surprised that 2 year old frozen 3200 is unusable.

 

My stock of well out of date Astia is starting to give me off colours, even though that's been frozen, but B&W should normally last a lot longer than a couple of years.

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... but B&W should normally last a lot longer than a couple of years.

Hi

 

Confirmed but it may be fogged if it has been stored badly.

My APX400S is May '05 (I have hundreds of feet of) and a little foggy but it has been so since I started using it about '07. I dont bother to add an anti fog agent though.

The sample picture looks grainy, but 3200 always like that for me, gave up on it.

Fog will only be annoying if it is non uniform, the rebates and gaps between frames should look as though they have been pre-exposed, but there should be no clumping. The scanner or enlarger should ignore, but the darkest shadow you want detail in needs to be above the fog level, hence an effective reduction in speed.

An anti fog agent may slow the effective speed as well, dependent on the developer you use, phendione and metol react differently, if I had clumpy fog I'd need to use restrainer.

 

Noel

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I'm using a 150 foot roll of TechPan that was bought in 1987. It has been sitting in a bulk loader since new and I haven't taken care of it very well. A little more fog than if it had been fresh stock, but fully useable and still a joy to use.

 

Carl

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Eyes Wide Shut was shot on 1970s stock (according to cinematographer myth). I always enjoy finding an old film as I know it will deliver interesting results - as long as you don't use it on an important job it doesn't really matter. If you're London based try Downtown Darkroom at Silverprint in Waterloo. They are one of the very few remaining dedicated B+W labs :)

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